Govt allocates Rs. 10 billion for Prime Minister’s Youth Affairs Programme

In its effort to facilitate Pakistani youth to brighten their skills, the government of Pakistan has recently allocated a budget of Rs. 10 billion for various schemes under Prime Minister Youth Affairs Programme (PMYAP) during 2018-19, according to Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

Under the PMYAP, the govt has successfully launched a 33-member ‘National Youth Council’ to empower youth for better livelihood and income opportunities, a govt official told APP. PMYAP will also launch the ‘PM’s Startup Pakistan’ program to engage youth in entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem culture, he added. According to local media reports, PM’s Startup Pakistan Program will support 1 million young entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, in a bid to help unemployed and deserving youth of the country, PMYAP has made a grand strategy of internship programme for undergraduate and post-graduate students in the country with stipend accordingly.

In addition, PMYAP has developed a comprehensive strategy for Kamyab Jawan Programme under which several programs would be formulated. As the official stated;

“It will be an Interest-free loan scheme under which clean lending facility will be offered to youth for up to Rs. 500,000, whereas subsidized loans will also be offered from Rs. 0.5 to 1 million, and Rs. 1 to 2.5 million.”

It is worth mentioning here that PMYAP has sustained a record performance on completion of one year by providing important inputs to bring economic and social change for youth in the country.

The official also explained that during the year 2018-2019, PMYAP maintained a track record of consistent performance as per expectations by making remarkable contributions for differently-abled youth. Moreover, the youth programme has also extended initiatives to empower youth of remote and rural areas, uneducated youth, minorities youth, transgender youth, and young women.

As far the development of Startup Pakistan Program is concerned, PMYAP had confirmed steering committee members of the program. As per a notification issued in April, Special Assistant to the PM on Youth Affairs, Muhammad Usman Dar has been appointed as the Chairman of Startup Pakistan Program. He will lead a team of 13 members including one secretary — Omar J Ghani, who is a startup funding expert.

The committee members will act as advisers to the PMSP Leadership Circle and would be responsible for providing a quarterly report on the activities including, problems, challenges, risks, and progress in their specific area to the chairman and the executive of the program.